General Chat

Our kids finish up for almost 7 weeks Summer hols tomorrow. What am I gonna do to entertain them, especially if the weather stays like it is(dull, cloudy and rainy). To top it all hubby is being made redundant in 3 weeks, so I'll have him under my feet too. Are you looking forward to them or dreading them? Christine

christine mine dont break up for 3 weeks but i can truely say im dredding it thought they was suppose to be breaking it up seems to be getting longer to me not shorter.

Im dreading it already Christine lol,Mine finished lunchtime today,(im in Dunfermline)and already my youngest has fallen off the climbing frame and cut this mouth :-S.WEre going to Alton Toweres tomorrow until Monday then will be stuck at home for 6 wks with them lol Anna :-)

hi christine my 5 have all left school, suggestion why not start a thread for things to do free in the school holidays,or cheap, then i'm sure some of us old handers and the newer mums will add ideas for you all to keep sane if not i'll add ideas here for you. sandra

Jen I take it yours must start back later then? Ours go back 17th August. Funny Anne, why is it kids always manage to hurt themselves first week of the hols!! Sandra, I'd love some ideas. We're pretty lucky here in Edinburgh that we've quite a lot of free museums that are good for kids, but I think mine are getting a bit fed up of them now. At least having hubby around will be good in that he drives, I don't, so we'll be able to go out places. And we do have the seaside right on our door, John can take them as I HATE sand!! Christine

Can't wait! I used to be a "dreading it" mother when I was a stay- at -home mum, as I was used to having the house in peace and quiet, and my two boys were younger and needed supervision and ideas about what to do. In the long summer hols I used to book them into a holiday camp at their school - it ran during August from 10.-3.00 and was mainly staffed by enthusiastic students. They did craft activities, played games, had waterfights etc and ended with a party. Now they are old enough to sort out their own social arrangements, so they will go off on their bikes, or meet their friends for a kickabout in the park. I do take them out with me for a few days, usually to a big town easily accessible by bus or train (don't have a car during the day) to Cambridge or St Albans etc. That way Iget to do a bit of shopping and in return they visit a museum of stuffed animals and creepycrawlies, and ran about in a park with a splashround in a pond. I was pleasantly surprised at how interested they were in St Albans Cathedral, and they reallyliked climbing up the old bell tower. Nearer home we can go for long walks by the riverside and have a picnic lunch. If it rains, we'll go out anyway, or they will be glued to their Playstation. I find nowadays that all too soon I am rushing about trying to fit in dentist appointments/haircuts/buying new school uniform for the beginning of the new term.

I used to dread the long summer holiday when my two were younger. I was on my own & worked full time so there was always the hassle of finding someone to mind them and when they were older the worry of them being at home alone! Now I am a nana I love having the grand daughters in the holidays. But now I don't work so have more time, have more patience and know I am helping my own daughters out - they have to work. I keep a box which I add to wnehever I see something on offer. Glue, colourered paper, stickers etc. Then if it's a wet day it's newspaper on the table and we all sit and make things. We have a shop her called 'The Works' and they sell packets of glitter and things like that fairly cheaply. In fact anything colourful seems to go down well. Kids are more happy with time spent on them than money. It's the little things they enjoy more than big. And of course I live at the seaside now so can enjoy all that. A walk down the pier or looking for shells which we can take home and make things with. This year I hope they will take up cross stitch which is one of my hobbies. I've been saving lots of different bits and bobs so you never know. Mum might get a nice picture! Jane

Anyone got any valium!!!!???? Nursery finished yesterday and the school finished today at lunchtime!! Oldest two seem ok and just want to go out and about with their pals....youngest one is just constant!!!!!! At least she can get out to play this year so it shouldnt be too bad I suppose. If theweather clears up a bit then it will fly by...and i'm hoping to take the kids camping. I've the next couple of weekends off from the kids so that will break it up a bit. So you could say i'm dreading hols and also looking forward to them a wee bit too! Your idea of a new thread of things to do for free or cheaply is a brilliant one! Hope we are all still in one piece in six weeks if maybe with a few more grey hairs!! Jill x

HI CHRISTINE i used to take my 5 and 2 stepkids,to the woods they would have a large matchbox or a carrier bag, and i would give them a list of things to find, or sometimes shout out ,ie oak leaf acorn etc etc and when the boxes were full we would go home and make a collage. another time it would be find the biggest ant hill or a woodlice, spiders web, squirell etc. i also did baking mornings jam tarts cakes pizza etc patch of garden or flower pots and sew seeds either veg or flowers and they would have to water and look after them, we would play board games, cards, make plaster of parris pots yoghurt pot covered and then add shells to decorate, we would do excercise games running on the spot etc, make tile pictures, one kitchen tile glue a curtain ring and a bit of binding tape to the back for hanging, get two or three cards and some double sticky pads. put the full picture on the tile and glue then cut out different parts of the other and build up to a three d effect. if i think of anything else i'll add sandra

I'm a teacher ................. can't wait ;-) Janice

I'm really really really looking forward to it. Mad, I hear you say! No just work in a school!! Looking forward to spending time with my own children instead of everyone elses lol.

I Love school holidays! Not only because I work term time but I look forward to having the time with my daughter and it is the only time my son and his family can manage to visit for any length of time. This summer is taken care of though with a week helping out at a summer school which my daughter attends doing drama - I make the costumes. Preparing a party (daughter is supposed to be doing it) for my 50th, holidays, son's visit, paperwork, decorating and that's it. end of holidays, back to work. Jacky :-)

I'm not looking forward to entertaining my 6 year old son for nearly 7 weeks...or going to the shops which seem to be full of children and very stressed mothers. I'm looking forward to when they split the holidays, which I understand has already started in some areas. Sheila

My little darling doesn't break up until the 16th July, then we are off on holiday to Wales for a week, so looking forward to that bit. Dreading the rest! The holiday club she used to go to (just for two days a week), has just closed down. Unfortunately, we tend to bug each other silly after about two weeks, because we are so alike!!! Plus, she misses school terribly and gets very bored, and we all know how much days out etc. costs! We always do painting, baking , picnics, friends over etc. though, which is nice. And she doesn't go back to school until 6th September!!!

Don't all hold your breath about the so called splitting of holidays, it probably won't happen for you.. My school was one of the first in the country to adopt the 5 term year. We had the same amount of holidays a year but spread evenly with a 4 week break in the summber instead of 6. It was fantastic, liked by pupils, parents and teachers but not the teaching unions. Needless to say, after piloting it for 4 years we have sadly had to lose it and revert to the so called 6 term year, which(wait for this) is the 3 term year split into 6 and instead of calling it half term it will be called the end of term thus making 6 terms in total. Schools are sticking with an ancient system that was devised when children worked on the land . We need to change!

We are just trying out this new system in Somerset, Wilts and Dorset. We only have five weeks for the summer holidays, then an extra few days in the October half term. I too work in a school (as the administrator) and this half term is the busiest of the year for me, so I always really look forward to breaking up! I must admit that I've always enjoyed spending the school holidays with my son, but that may be because he doesn't have any brothers or sisters to argue and fight with!

One summer holiday when my two were little, I taped lining paper right down the side of the house and they and their friends spent most of their time painting a 'mural'. It lasted the whole of the holidays and kids would bring their own paints along to add a bit more. I don't know why it worked so well but I thought it was an inspired idea at the time! They were so absorbed I don't think I heard an 'I'm bored' all holiday. It was a bit of a joke with some of the other mums that it was all we could do to get some breakfast down them before they went 'to the wall'. Unfortunately with the summer we're having at the moment it would probably end up as papier mache!

Like Janice, I am a teacher and can't wait for 20th July!! However , I get to swap one set of teenagers at school for three teenagers at home!! Janet

School hols began Wednesday here in Northern Ireland and they finish on the 1st of Sept. I have an 8yr old boy and a 12 yr old girl. Trying to find things they will BOTH enjoy is going to be hard work. The oldest is more into Music , sleeping in and txting friends than building camps, looking for bugs and playing at the park : ( Not sure how I feel lol!! NUMB maybe lol!! I'm sure I'll find something they will both love if I spend MONEY arghhhhhh!! Much happiness Debi

Dreading it! My childcare costs double. I have taken a couple of weeks off in August and am looking forward to spending time with the kids. But not sure how I will afford the rest of the holidays. Angela